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THE 7.62 X 39R K(estell) KADET
Here’s a nifty little cartridge you can play with.
1. Use either production .303 Savage brass or some reformed .303 Savage. (I used some
from Buffalo Arms).
2. Purchase a set of LEE PRECISION 7.62 X 39 dies and order a custom case length
trim gauge for a .308” bullet with a length of 1.516” and a #11 shell holder.
3. Trim the .303 Savage brass before resizing.
4. Use a little Imperial Sizing was and full length resize the above trimmed case.
5. Retrim if the case has grown beyond 1.516”.
6. At this point you should be able to just chamfer the inside/outside of the case mouth.
I found that I did NOT have to inside neck ream the case as it easily fits the chamber
cut with a stock 7.62 X 39 reamer. However, you need to make certain of this.
7. I had a rifle built on a Uberti High Wall with a heavy .308” barrel. I use either a
125gr .308” spire bullet or run a 123gr .310” through a LEE .307” resizing die
to give me .308” after a little springback.
8. I load this alittle lighter than my standard 7.62 X 39 . I did notice that I lost 2 out of
50 cases with neck splits. This tells me that I should probably consider annealing the
cases to avoid this problem.
I know there has always been a lot of interest in putting this cartridge in a Martini Cadet. I didn’t have a spare Cadet laying around at the time … but I may just have my good friend build me another 7.62 X 39R K(estell) KADET because now I do have a couple just waiting for a project. However, the High Wall shoots good enough to warrant a set of target sights for the coming season. Thank God for winter.
For what it’s worth, the rim on this neat, little cartridge is only .038” under that for the British .303! (.540” -vs- .502”) so it’s possible that this will feed, extract and eject from any .303 chambered firearm without modification to the magazine or bolt.
Happy Shooting
Bill Kestell
Here’s a nifty little cartridge you can play with.
1. Use either production .303 Savage brass or some reformed .303 Savage. (I used some
from Buffalo Arms).
2. Purchase a set of LEE PRECISION 7.62 X 39 dies and order a custom case length
trim gauge for a .308” bullet with a length of 1.516” and a #11 shell holder.
3. Trim the .303 Savage brass before resizing.
4. Use a little Imperial Sizing was and full length resize the above trimmed case.
5. Retrim if the case has grown beyond 1.516”.
6. At this point you should be able to just chamfer the inside/outside of the case mouth.
I found that I did NOT have to inside neck ream the case as it easily fits the chamber
cut with a stock 7.62 X 39 reamer. However, you need to make certain of this.
7. I had a rifle built on a Uberti High Wall with a heavy .308” barrel. I use either a
125gr .308” spire bullet or run a 123gr .310” through a LEE .307” resizing die
to give me .308” after a little springback.
8. I load this alittle lighter than my standard 7.62 X 39 . I did notice that I lost 2 out of
50 cases with neck splits. This tells me that I should probably consider annealing the
cases to avoid this problem.
I know there has always been a lot of interest in putting this cartridge in a Martini Cadet. I didn’t have a spare Cadet laying around at the time … but I may just have my good friend build me another 7.62 X 39R K(estell) KADET because now I do have a couple just waiting for a project. However, the High Wall shoots good enough to warrant a set of target sights for the coming season. Thank God for winter.
For what it’s worth, the rim on this neat, little cartridge is only .038” under that for the British .303! (.540” -vs- .502”) so it’s possible that this will feed, extract and eject from any .303 chambered firearm without modification to the magazine or bolt.
Happy Shooting
Bill Kestell
